Babar Azam Declared ODI cricketer of the year

Web Desk — For his spectacular performance during the calendar year 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has named Pakistan skipper Babar Azam the ODI Cricketer of the Year.
The ICC had also nominated Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan, South Africa’s Janneman Malan, and Ireland’s Paul Stirling for the award.

Babar has won this award three times in a row. He was previously selected for ODI Team of the Year as well and T20I Team of the Year by the ICC.

The skipper thanked his fans, family, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the ICC, and his team for their support and morale-boosting.

Babar Azam in 2021

Although Babar Azam played only six One-Day Internationals in 2021, he was crucial to Pakistan’s two series this year.

During Pakistan’s 2-1 series victory against South Africa, he was the Player of the Match in both Pakistan’s wins and the second-highest run-scorer with 228 runs. The architect of Pakistan’s chase of 274 in the first ODI, Babar scored a century and laid the foundation with an 82-ball 94 in the final ODI, when the visitors scored 320 batting first.

During Pakistan’s 3-0 loss to England, he was the lone survivor. Despite his 177 runs in three games, none of the other batters managed to score more than 100 runs.